Wennington Romer-0 Tosses Another Gem in 4-1 Win

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - Wennington Romero allowed only three baserunners in his eight innings of work during Daytona's 4-1 win over St. Lucie Friday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Romero struck out a season-high seven batters and, at one point, retired 16 straight batters.
Daytona scored first, getting on the board in the bottom of the second. Narciso Crook worked a one-out walk and moved first-to-third on a bad pickoff throw by the pitcher. With the infield drawn in, Brantley Bell hit a chopper over the head of the Mets shortstop to score Crook from third.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Tortugas would add two more runs. Mitch Nay led off the inning with a double on the first pitch, then came in to score on a TJ Friedl single. Friedl would steal second and move to third on a ground out, before scoring on a Tyler Stephenson sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.
The Tortugas would score another run on a sac-fly in the seventh. Nay worked a one out walk, moved first-to-third on a Friedl single, and came in to score on a Jose Siri fly ball.
After retiting 16 straight, Romero allowed a home run to Michael Paez to lead off the top of the eighth inning. The home run was the Mets first hit since the second batter of the game.
Romero (5-1) earned the win, tossing eight innings for the second time in his career, while giving up just one run. RHP Gabriel Llanes (2-5) took the loss, allowing eight hits, three runs, and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. RHP Ryan Hendrix picked up his second save, striking out Desmond Lindsay to strand two on base in the ninth.
Daytona will send LHP Ty Boyles (2-3, 7.14 ERA) to the mound Saturday. He will be opposed by RHP Harol Gonzalez (0-3, 3.15).
First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM, with coverage beginning at 6:50 PM with The Metcare Pregame Show on AM 1230, AM 1490, and FM 106.9 WSBB.
NOTES: Wennington Romero has allowed fewer than two runs in 5 starts this season… Ryan Hendrix became the fifth different Tortuga with multiple saves... TJ Friedl recorded his team leading fourth multi-hit game. He reached base all four times (3 singles, walk). He has reached base in 27 straight home games, the longest streak in the FSL since last August... St. Lucie has committed all five errors in the series, through the first two games... Daytona is the only team in the FSL without a three game losing streak, despite having seven different two-game slides. Every other team had a three-game losing streak by May 8th... The Tortugas are now 23-1 when leading after six innings, and 18-0 when leading after eight.